SUPER FURRY SUNDAYS (aka The Singular Adventures of Super Furry Animals)

A guest series by The Robster

#16: Ysbeidiau Huelog (2000, Placid Casual, PLC002)

Despite all the label’s successes, Creation Records went under in 2000, just as Super Furry Animals had another album ready to go, less than a year after the previous one. While it was originally planned that Creation would release it, it turns out that, according to the band, the label didn’t really want it, and coupled with the decision to end Creation, the band was allowed to buy the rights for £6,000.

And so it was, that in May 2000, Super Furry Animals released ‘Mwng’, their first album performed entirely in the Welsh language. But that wasn’t the reason why it was so different to what came before it. Despite being rather experimental in places, ‘Guerrilla’ was thought of by the band as their pop record, and so were hugely disappointed at the lack of hits it produced. So for ‘Mwng’, they went on “pop strike” as they called it, making a record they wanted to make with no pretensions of it actually doing anything sales-wise.

It’s quite a contradictory record. It was recorded live with few embellishments and was all wrapped up in a fortnight. But while the songs were typically melodic and upbeat, the lyrics were often dark and brooding, owing to Gruff having experienced a difficult period in his life. And despite the Welsh language medium, Gruff also admits that “musically there’s nothing Welsh about it at all”, with the album owing more to US West Coast pop and psychedelic bands of the 1960 than the Furries’ homeland.

A fortnight before ‘Mwng’ was on the shelves, a single was released. But, in keeping with not playing the industry’s games, and being free to release whatever they wanted, however they wanted, only a limited 7” white vinyl format was put out.

mp3: Ysbeidiau Huelog

Ysbeidiau Huelog (pronounced uh-spadey-eye hay-loag; trans: Sunny Intervals) is a song about “looking back at a bad time which had the odd good moment”, and features a saxophone, something the band had previously considered “the Devil’s instrument”! It’s an interesting one, as so much of it has Super Furry Animals written all over it, yet at the same time, shares very little with anything the band had done before. In fact, it stuck out on ‘Mwng’ like a sore thumb. “If there’s any song that doesn’t sum up the album, it’s that one,” according to Gruff. It has been compared to ELO and Roxy Music, though I’m not sure I’m hearing that myself.

The sole b-side was recorded for a John Peel session just 2 months before the single’s release. As far as I know, it remains the only recorded version of the song, and it was only available on this single until the ‘Live At The BBC’ box set was put out in 2018. A curious choice for a b-side really, but a lot of fun – a riot, actually – and sounds nothing like the single or its parent album. It reminds me a bit of Man…Or Astroman?.

mp3: Charge

Owing to its very limited (and by now almost obsolete) format, Ysbeidiau Huelog only peaked at number 89 in the UK singles charts, but critically it was praised to the rafters. To be fair, that was par for the course – everyone loved Super Furry Animals, it’s just that not enough people bought their records. ‘Mwng’ faired better chart-wise. It entered the chart at #11, becoming the first Welsh language album to make the UK top 20, and going on to become the biggest selling Welsh language album of all time.

No further singles were released from ‘Mwng’, making it one of the band’s lowest-key records, and as a result, their most sadly overlooked. So I’m going to give you two bonus tracks this week. Think of it as the second part of a 7” double-pack, if you like. Firstly, a live version of Ysbeidiau Huelog recorded at All Tomorrow’s Parties in 2000. Someone once ripped me a copy of a bootleg they had called ‘One Night Stand’. I know nothing about the performance, location or date, other than it was probably around 2002 owing to the track listing. Anyway, it contains a version of Nythod Cacwn (trans. Wasps Nests) that has never been officially released, so there’s your exclusive for this week.

mp3: Ysbeidiau Huelog [live]
mp3: Nythod Cacwn [live]

In spite of their resistance to ‘The Man’, the band’s next move was to actually sign to a major label. Luckily for us, it would result in arguably the best Super Furry Animals record ever…

 

The Robster